Aftermath
by Meecherz
Summary: A sequalish... thing to a role-play with my friends. The plot was created by my friend, no stealing. D8
1. Chapter 1: Memories

Ten years... Ten whole years ago, Hell had sunken back down into the depths of the Earth. It was still hard to believe that the terror of that era - known to some as the Era of Despair or the Era of Death - had passed... The constant fear that loomed like storm clouds over the head of every organism in the world was gone. And ten years after the eight-year era had passed, Nicholas Morrow could still not believe it had passed - or even, for that matter, believe he had lived through it.

And to think - now he was a member of the Elite Four for the Kanto region; amazing!

The pale man had been only eleven during that time - it was hard to survive, knives constantly being put to his neck and crazed Pokemon chasing him across the ruins of his once lavish region. Hell had arisen from its depths those many years ago - and Nicholas had been one of the few to help defeat the Chaos that had overwhelmed the world. Now twenty-one, it seemed only natural for any who did not know Nicholas well that Nicholas would be a member of the Elite Four. Granted, they didn't know the others who had helped, or Nicholas back then.

But like so, so many other things in the world, Nicholas had changed.

From an innocent scaredy cat to a hollow shell of a person to a suicidal teen, Nicholas had been through it all. His life was one hell of a roller coaster ride, his personality changing greatly every so often - the scared, shy boy he had been years ago had vanished nearly completely, only a part of his conscious now. His sweet, kind nature had been hidden behind a speculating face, worn by the treacherous life he had been forced to live - the lovesick child had left years ago, a more quiet and reserved being taking the place of the clingy child.

So, so much had changed... So, so much he had abandoned...

* * *

The vacant stare of two aqua eyes was suddenly broken - the eyes, calm and emotionless, blinked out of their reverie at the staccato tapping noise that was grower closer to him. The brown-haired man tensed immediately, brown arm hair (the same color as both his short, neat hair and his thin eyebrows) raising anxiously - and when he saw a thin woman older than himself step into the vast room, he was pulled back into his memories once more.

This time, however, the memories were nowhere near as mild as they had been before; it was bloody.

* * *

An angel from the heavens sent to protect the world was not supposed to harm one of the Kibou no Senshi. Alexis was harmless and innocent - the blonde-haired girl had probably never hurt a soul except herself. Why was Nami - dressed as beautifully as always, in soft blue cloth that allowed her to fight and fly with ease and reminded Nicholas of the fact that she was an Articuno Pokemorph - attacking someone on her side? Nami wasn't supposed to do that - Nami herself was innocent, Nicholas knew that! 

And yet, the graceful flyer swooped down, her two swords swinging down to slash mercilessly across Alexis' back, staining the delicate white dress the older girl had been wearing. Nicholas stood, gaping, innocent eyes wide with fear as Nami flew over his head. There was a moment where time seemed to stand still, the only being moving was Nami - soaring gracefully through the night like some owl, killing its prey without any clues to its intentions. Finally, Nicholas kneeled down beside Alexis, shorts getting drenched in the metallic liquid that ran down her back, slightly darker than his red t-shirt.

* * *

He remembered this - the clothes he was wearing were quite like those he had been wearing all those years ago, except the shorts were now loose-fitting jeans and the t-shirt was replaced with a polo of the same red hue. The 29-year-old that had entered the room to challenge him was wearing a dress like Nick remembered her usually wearing, although this one was a nice light yellow, most likely an attempt to brighten up the land halls of the boring building she had entered. She gave Nicholas a small smile. **"Hello."**

Nicholas was dumbfounded when she finally spoke, blinking repeatedly (instantaneously losing his emotionless mask) to make sure he had heard her correctly. He frowned after a moment, deciding it didn't matter - he'd left the Kibou no Senshi behind for a reason, and she had probably done the same. But what would it hurt to just say "hi" to her?

"Alexis? ...You still battle?" The last of the elite four paused. **"Do you still have the same Pokemon you used to?"** Nicholas paused once more, seeing her confused expression. He should have suspected as much - Alexis was nice, but she wasn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree. **"I guess you don't remember me..."** he muttered forlornly, shaking his head. He saw Alexis blink in confusion at this, but said nothing - instead, he tugged one of the Pokeballs off of his belt, tossing it out to the battlefield to release his Skarmory. **"Come on, Sky!"**

Nicholas saw Alexis blink in confusion once more at the battle's speedy start before the pretty woman tossed out a Pokeball containing a Gyrados. Just as Nicholas' Skarmory began to rush forward to attack with Night Slash, Alexis' Pokemon used Thunderbolt. The jet of electricity hit the Steel bird square in the chest, knocking it to the ground. Nicholas grimaced as the Gyrados used another Thunderbolt for good measure, making Sky faint. Nicholas returned the Pokemon to its Pokeball with a frown before tossing out his Magneton. **"Maggie, use Thunder!"** cried the pale man after the Pokemon had dodged a Fire Blast from the Gyrados. Clouds rolled above the heads of the trainers and Pokemon for a moment as a bolt of lightning hit the Gyrados in the back. The snake-like Pokemon fell to the ground with a groan, trying to get back up before it was hit with a Thunderbolt a lot like the one that had taken Nick's Skarmory out. The large Pokemon's head fell to the ground with one last groan and Alexis gasped - one down, five to go for both of the trainers.

"What Pokemon to chose, what Pokemon?" she chirped worriedly, blue eyes wide with shock. After a moment, she tossed out a Pokeball containing a Dragonite. Nicholas froze here, aqua eyes wide as he once pulled into his memories for the third time in twenty minutes.

* * *

The kind of glare you got from her - the girl with deep crimson eyes and midnight black hair - was not something you wanted to be faced with. Especially when you were only eleven and she was a good ten-years-older than you, with more experienced Pokemon and a dagger that seemed to be her best friend. 

Nicholas shuddered at the thought - her dagger. She could see his fear - Nicholas couldn't hide his emotions, but then again, what eleven-year-olds could? She took this fear as an opportunity. **"Yoake, use Hyper Beam!"** The silver Dragonair immediately obeyed it's trainer, it's jaws opening so that a ball of energy could be seen at the back of it's mouth. **"Mystique!"** he cried out, watching with horror as a beam of yellow light shot at him. The pale boy closed his eyes, shrinking back, expecting to feel the pain any second...

Nothing. He wasn't hurt. **"Whuu?"** he slurred, wondering why he wasn't hurt. He opened his eyes, blinking in confusion - he was above ground, cold wind whipping freely at his face. And there he saw her pale face, grinning down at his younger features.

"Saved your butt again, didn't I, Nicky?" the blue-haired Articuno 'morph mused as they flew away from the woman who had been out to kill him (along with everybody else on the planet).

* * *

Dragonair evolved into Dragonite - the similarities made him shudder, both with pleasant memories of the blue-haired girl who he had fallen for all those years ago and of the miserable memories of death and loneliness. Life was supposed to be simple now... Hell had left ten years ago and the memories of it were supposed to be locked away. Why else had Nicholas gone by Aiden ever since joining the elite four? A new identity, a new team of Pokemon... His old pain was supposed to be laid to rest with this new life. How could some girl - a girl that showed up frequently in his past, along with all those other people, but left in the end - bring all that back to him? 

'She shouldn't be here... She needs to leave,' a part of him hissed, and the man nodded, brows furrowing. **"Maggie, use Lock On and then Thunder!"** With an electric-sounding buzz, the Magneton zoomed forward, body charged with electric energy. It target unable to flee, a jolt of energy hit the Dragon. It cried out in pain before it shot forth, punching the Magneton with a Fire Punch**. "Mag-netonnnn,"** it muttered feebly in its language, and Nicholas understood that it was too worn out to go on. He nodded, quickly sending out a replacement - his Empoleon. 

Again, the dragon rushed forward, this time with a Thunder Punch. Trident, as the Empoleon was nicknamed, groaned but remained upright, glaring at the dragon. It would pay, that much was obvious when a mixture of snow and ice came crashing down on the dragon. This time, it was out. Alexis frowned, 'eep'-ing at the sight before tossing out her only Legendary: Jirachi. Again, Nicholas was pulled into his own thoughts, forced to drown in the memories.

* * *

**"But... Keiichi... K-Keiichi would n-n-never hurt y-you,"** whimpered the four-year-old, tears welling in his wide eyes. Despite his Legendary companion's attempts at comforting him ("Nicky, it'll be all right... Nicky, don't cry, please.."), the small boy felt miserable inside. Surrounding him were all of the Legendaries in the world - and all were out to kill his brother. Mystique, his protector, his Latias had kept this from him. And all the legendaries - even the cute ones, like Celebi and Jirachi - were staring at him expectantly, clearly wanting to know about the man who was said to turn the Daughter of the Northern Wind evil. It was a living nightmare.

* * *

In silence, Nicholas returned his pokemon. Despite her confused expression, the thin man began walking to the right of the room, towards a locked door that lead up to his room. Behind him, he could hear her ask about the battle - what she should do. As the door that lead up to his quarters slid open, Nicholas' (or, "Aiden") turned his head slightly, able to see her from the corner of his eye. **"I'm not in a fit state to battle. Please move on to the fight the champion - feel free to tell them why the battle progressed so quickly. My apologies."** That said, he walked up to his room, feeling sadness worming its way into its heart, just as it had done all those years ago...


	2. Chapter 2: Not Supposed to Forget

He hated this. Nick was at a loss of what to do, and could only sit on the bed of his small room with his head in his hands. His eyes were wide open, fear that had not existed on his facade for years back to haunt him. Something felt wrong about this... about remembering his past. He had locked it away for a reason. Was he remembering it because death was approaching? Or, was there nothing to worry about?

Either way, Nicholas wanted the memories gone. If only he could erase them from his very mind... Nicholas could imagine it now, being blissfully happy just as he had been after forgetting his older brother ever existed. **"Maybe I should get caught in an explosion and lose my memory again," **he muttered bitterly, now glaring at the boring beige carpet on the floor. After a minute, the pale man sighed, letting his back fall onto the neat, brown comforter that covered his twin bed. He closed his eyes for just a moment, sighing - and the next second he shot up, glaring at the boring tan wall across from him. **"You need to forget her - she left you, just like Keiichi and Kiseki. She's not going to help you anymore,"** he growled to himself, trying to push away the though of the blue-haired girl. **"She doesn't love you - just forget her."**

Suddenly, Nicholas stood, sitting on the chair at his disk. A machine sat on the wooden desk - Nicholas placed all six of his Pokeballs on it, murmuring a small apology to his fallen Pokemon. Well, at least they'd be healed now...

His gaze then flickered to the three Pokeballs on a shelf above the desk. Slowly, he reached for one, reluctant... And then, without touching it, maroon light shot out of it, and a Latias materialized where the light had been. The normally-jubilant, carefree Legend was frowning at the human she had protected since he had been days old... His sadness and frustration was clear today, something Mystique was not used to. **"Is something wrong, Nicky?"** she asked quietly as her trainer stared blankly at her with a frown on his pale face. The blue-eyed boy looked at his feet before replying in a hushed tone, **"I'm remembering them... still. I want to forget, but I can't."** The boy paused. **"Why, Mystique?"**

The Latias flew forward slowly, gently pressing her nose into the larger creature's cheek. **"If you can't forget them, they're not supposed to be forgotten. I know you forgot Keiichi, but that wasn't natural - she meddled." **Mystique fell silent, pulling away. **"Go to sleep, Nicky - if you dream about them, maybe you're not meant to forget about them." **With that, the legend flew up to her Pokeball and gently pressed her head to the button on the device, disappearing in a flash of bright red light. With one last sigh, the man pulled off his polo and lay on the bed.

Unable to fall asleep at the moment, he stared at the ceiling, thinking. _'If I can't forget about her, I'm just going to be hurt,'_ he thought to himself with a small frown, the Articuno Pokemorph the only person from his past on his mind right now. He hated this - he hated that he wanted to forget her, that it hurt just to think of her. _'She left you, remember?'_ His body went rigid at this thought, head turning so it was on the pillow.

And then he saw her - the angel of both his dreams and his nightmares.

**"Nami?"** he whispered, surprised that he had not heard her come in or even felt her small hand fingering the pale skin on his stomach. He blinked at her face, looking almost white in the moon's silvery light. She was a few inches shorter him, still had the same hairstyle she did years ago, and wore the same clothes she did back then - much to Nicholas' surprise, of course. But, what was most important was that she was crying.

**"Nami, please don't cry..."** he whispered gently, but she shook her head**. "Nami..."** He whispered again, leaning forward in hopes of kissing her, eyes slowly closing. Just as they were about to close, his lips touched hers, but he felt nothing. Tears welling in his eyes and rolling down his cheeks, he whispered**, "If you were real**.." With that, his head touched the pillow and he fell asleep with tears in his eyes, only to dream of the angel he had invisioned cuddling beside him.


	3. Chapter 3: Letters

_Riinnnggg. Riinnnggg. Riiiinnnnngggggg!_

The man awoke with a jolt, sitting upright in his small bed. He blinked in confusion, wondering why it was suddenly silent. Of course, in a few moments, the noise started up again, and Nicholas quickly realized the source of the disturbance. He rolled onto his side, reaching out one long arm to pick up the phone. **"Hello?" **he asked curiously, raising a brow as he spotted the time on his alarm clock - why the hell did they need to wake him up at seven a.m.? _"Mr. d'Spar, I'm sorry to wake you, but someone came to visit--"_ Here, Nicholas cut the female's voice off. **"I told you before that I don't want anyone to visit me. And, please, call me Aiden." **His tone was acidic, hate dotted in his words... but somewhere in his tone, there was pain and sadness, and it must have been puzzling as to why the mysterious trainer did not want visitors. _"I'm sorry, Aiden, but they said it was urgent - not to mention, they're challenging you." _Nicholas barely held back a growl - he had tried to push away the old Arcanine part of him, but it seemed to be coming back in his depression. **"Why did you let them in this early?"** he asked, glaring at the floor. On the other line, the woman sighed. _"Like I said, they told us that it was urgent. In any case, I imagine that the little girl will be there soon - we gave her permission to go see you first and then battle the rest of the elite four after you two had talked and battled. Of course, if you wish, you two can just talk and then send her back to battle Bruno and the others and she can battle you later." _**"No, it's fine - we can battle right away. Good bye."**

After hanging up the phone, Nicholas stood and pulled on a black, long-sleeved shirt - it was dirty, but it didn't smell bad. If only Nicholas wasn't afraid to go out into the world... Judging by his lack of clothes, Nicholas clearly didn't get out much. After putting the six Pokeballs of his Pokemon on his left hip (attached by his belt, obviously), the trainer murmured, **"I need you three too - for support,"** and grabbed the three Pokeballs of his old Pokemon and put them in his pants Pokemon. Inhaling deeply, he walked to the stairs and began to leave his safe haven behind.

* * *

As soon as the door slid open, he saw her - and at once, the moment he stepped out of the doorway, his body went rigid. Fair-skinned, small, petite... Black hair, warm amber eyes... Her outfit - fuchsia shorts, a lavender shirt with black trim, a lavender beach hat with half of a pokeball colored fuchsia, white shoes with fuchsia markings here and there, lilac socks, and a black sweatband on each wrist - was, however, unfamiliar. Immediately, he found himself glaring at the young girl - he had gotten a glare from her mother's other self (not that he knew who her mother was, but he had a guess in mind) much like this when he was her age, except the glare he had received was more... serious? Blood Raven's glare was good enough to kill, all her sadistic thoughts clear in her eyes; Nicholas' was pathetic, something that seemed to say, "Leave... please. I can't handle this right now..." Nicholas was clearly, at heart, a bit of a pushover.

**"HIIIII!"** the girl screamed, jumping up and down for a minute before running towards Nicholas. She leaped at the taller figure, pushing the thin man to the ground. He gave a grunt, staring at the small figure. The more he look at her, the more he pictured her as some happy little dog Pokemon, wagging it's tail merrily. It made his stomach churn to think that he had once been that attached to people - once so attached to people that it only seemed obvious would let him down. **"Oh my god, I've heard so, so, so, so, sooooooooo much about you!" **she squealed in excitement. Nicholas blinked in reply, barely able to stop from asking her who the hell she was.** "I'm Naomi Sakurai - dad and mom wanted my to give this to you, uncle that I've never met before!" **With that said, she thrust at him a small piece of parchment dotted with hearts (Nicholas would bet his life that this was Keiichi's wife's doing - even if Keiichi did love Nicholas, and Nicholas was sure that he didn't, Keiichi didn't seem to be the type to like pink paper with hearts at the bottom), peering at him earnestly, apparently having no intentions of getting off of him.

**"So they remember me?"** he muttered coldly, grasping the note tightly in his hands - he found it hard not to crumble and/or rip the letter to shreds, but doubted that the little girl would be too pleased at that. So, instead, he murmured in a surprisingly gentle tone, **"Please get off of me so I can read this." **The girl grinned in reply, jumping off of him like an agile cat. Nicholas stood and walked over to the other side of the room, turning his back to her - he didn't want to scare her if he did something too drastic.

_Dear Nicholas,_ the letter began, and Nicholas could almost see the couple sitting down to write this as their child was out being amused by the world around her, _How have you been? We've seen you on the television - of course, the reporters say it isn't you, but we know better. You've changed a lot - you've grown an amazing amount, and we both find it hard to believe that you grew into such a great trainer. You always look sad on the television, though... We guess we should have expected much, but we hoped you would be able to live life to the fullest. _**"Hope is for the weak-hearted, brother... you taught me that a long time ago..."** murmured Nicholas before he continued reading, glaring at the note. _We both would like to apologize from the bottom of our hearts for what you've had to go trough because of us. The Chaos and all... Well at least you're alive? _It was probably Kiseki's shot at optimism - he knew it was her now. **"I wish I was dead, thanks,"** he whispered down at the letter. _We really are sorry, but you know what the Chaos was like. We know we can never fix the damage that was caused during that time, but we will both do anything to help numb the pain. But enough of that sadness - you probably know if you got this letter that you are now an uncle! We (Kiseki and Keiichi) got married years ago and had a child, Naiomi. She's eight now... She'd always ask if she had any family and we told her that she did but it wasn't safe to go look for them. She's a lot like you used to be, you know - fun and happy and yet very stubborn. If it weren't for her, you wouldn't have received this letter - she demanded she give it to you in person after hearing she might face you if she beat all of the gym leaders. We hope she wasn't too rambunctious... She tends to get that way when she's excited! Also, if you ever get bored of life as an elite four trainer (who knew we'd ever say that about you, Nicky?), feel free to visit us - you're always welcome to stay as long as you like. _**"Like I'd ever do that,"** he muttered bitterly, folding up the letter (having gotten to the "with love, Kiseki and Keiichi" part) and putting it in his jean pocket. With that, he turned around, only to see his niece - he'd have to get used to that - looking up at him expectantly, smiling broadly (this, he noted, was a Kiseki-like trait she had received - his brother didn't typically smile, not that Nicholas remembered).

**"How was it?! Are you really my uncle - they said you had a Latias and that you're really nice!"** she chirped, bouncing up an down on the balls of her feet with excitement. Although Nicholas disagreed with what his "family" had said about him, he didn't want to make them liars. It wouldn't go well with Naiomi, he assumed, so sighed and nodded wearily, reaching in his pocket to toss out a Pokeball. Mystique materialized in a flash of red light, appearing quite confused. Even after Nicholas knew that his companion had read his thoughts, the female Legend was confused. _/A niece?/_ she inquired telepathically. Nicholas nodded before saying quietly, **"Naiomi, this is my Latias, Mystique. Mystique, this is my--" **Nicholas was abruptly cut for as the girl leaped forth, shaking the Latias' paw. **"I'm Naiomi Sakurai, nice to meet you, Latias! My mom and dad said that you protect Uncle Nicholas, is that truuueeee?"**

Mystique nodded at this, otherwise silent - how knew if this girl could understand Pokemon? Trying to talk to her would be a waste if she couldn't - besides, it seemed obvious by Nicholas' scowl that he didn't want to carry this little reunion (well, considering they had never met before, it wasn't really a reunion; but it felt like it to Nick and Mystique) out. The man managed to gain his composure, facade emotionless before clearing his throat. **"We should get going now," **he muttered, opening his left hand for the girl to grab. She snatched it up squickly, grinning up at him. **"Where are we going?" **she asked, and Nicholas replied simply, **"I need you to bring a letter back to Pallet Town - then you can come back and battle me and the others." **With that, the two were off - Nicholas walking confidently, Naiomi skipping jubilantly, and Mystique flying behind both of them protectively.

* * *

They were at the front desk of the Pokemon League - three women sat at the long desk, checking in trainers and such. When Nicholas entered the room, pink piece of paper in hand, heads turned and people gasped in awe. An elite trainer was in their midst, using a pen to add on to some letter on pink paper. _Forget about me_ he wrote in black permanent marker, bolding it as much as he could - going over each letter multiple times as trainers before him cried in hushed tones, **"Look, it's Aiden d'Spar... Wonder why he's got some little girl with him..." **And just when he was about done with the sentence (which he had sloppily written over the delicate, looping cursive Kiseki had written), he heard Naiomi pleasantly reply, **"Aiden d'Spar? Don't you mean Nicholas Sakurai?!" **He went rigid at this - at the sound of silence hitting the room in an instant. And then, from somewhere behind him, someone cried out, **"His brother caused the Chaos years ago! I bet they're trying to start it again - trying to get all of the other elite four members on their side!" **Nicholas spun around at this, glaring at the sight of every trainer in the room holding a Pokeball in their hands, ready to attack. **"Naiomi, we should go,"** he hissed, quickly stuffing the note in his pants pocket. Someone in the crowd, however, apparently didn't like the thought of that. **"Houndoom, go - don't let them get away!" **The dark canine fired a Flamethrower at the two of them, but it suddenly made a U-turn, a purple aura surrounding it. _/Protect her, Nicky!/ _she cried as more attacks were fired - the Houndoom fired another attack at them while Mystique was busy with the relentless attacks of their other enemies.

Suddenly, his light blue eyes began to darken, becoming a violent shade of indigo as fur sprouted from his body and his clothes disappeared. A feral snarl erupted from the maw of the fire canine as the attack hit it in the side, the beast glaring at the beast. The Chaos within the Arcanine was long gone, but the beast still had the instincts of a wild Pokemon - it wasn't tame, but it was a wild beast who only cared about itself and its family and no one else. _/Mystique, tell her to get on,/_ he growled as he shot a Flamethrower back at the Houndoom. Within moments, there was a heavy weight on his back, weighing him down - he groaned at the foreign feeling, having not been in such a form in years. And then, without another moment notice, the large beast shot out the door, using Agility to increase his speed while Mystique zoomed behind, defending them as she flew.

* * *

**"This is it, Uncle Nick the Fuzzy Arcanine!"** she chirped as a small cottage came into view, the outer walls a nice tan and the doors and shutters a dark blue. Inside, he knew they were there - he could see the light curtains pulled back, curious eyes watching their approach. Just as they were one hundred feet away, the door opened - the innocent facade of Kiseki peered at them, eyes wide with worry. And when Nick suddenly came to a halt and Naiomi jumped off his back, he saw her rush outside - while, from the corner of his eye, he spotted Keiichi's tanned face, hard gaze focused on him. He hated seeing that gaze, especially when he changed back into a human - on his knees, hands keeping him from falling, breath coming in gasps. Nicholas felt worthless - some wierd Pokemorph boy who had nearly gotten his niece killed while his brother stared at him and his sister-in-law checked over his niece. Life couldn't have been better.


	4. Chapter 4: Old Family

He could hear them talking at the dinner table through an open window. Why Nicholas didn't just join them for their meal, he didn't know. Life was just too complicated right now... The need to figure out everything before joining them was his excuse for never eating with them. Nick still ate, of course - Kiseki never minded bringing him out food to eat, always asking if he'd prefer to eat inside. Nick would always reply with a simple, polite, "No thank you," feeling slightly ashamed afterward - he hoped she wasn't mad for refusing to eat with them. In any case, Nick figured she would understand - maybe she had been in the position before, although it was unlikely... But Nicholas just didn't feel like he belonged. The were a family - it felt wrong to butt in and change all that they had ever known. Not to mention... It just hurt too much. Being around Kiseki was odd, knowing that she had once killed him (of course, thanks to some magic, he was revived) and being around Keiichi just made Nicholas feel oddly empty. Nicholas supposed being around Naiomi was okay - she treated him like he was something special, not just some random guy who had deserved to be forgotten all those years ago.

_"So what happened this morning, again, Nai?" _he heard Kiseki ask - he could picture her smiling, leaning towards her daughter to seem more interested in the story. Then, he could picture Nai - eyes wide, mouth forming an "o" at the excitement that filled her before she finally spoke. _"Well, Momma, some bad people tried to hurt me... But Uncle Nick turned into this ha-uuugggeee, fluffy, orange doggy and saved us!" _He could hear them talking a bit more on the subject, but didn't bother to pay attention. He could imagine the reactions and didn't want to hear the words. _'They're probably talking about how it's weird to be what I am... About how I could hurt someone if I ever get too angry and can't control the wild Pokemon inside of me... Well it's their fault. Don't even say thank you...'_

**"Nicholas?"** The words pulled him out of his thoughts, odd and unexpected. Okay, so they weren't odd - just the person who had spoken them was odd. _'He's talking to his hopeless little brother?'_ Nicholas mused bitterly, glaring at his feet and gritting his teeth.

**"Yes?" **Nick replied, trying to keep his words short - maybe Keiichi would leave then.

**"You can come in now... Kiseki prepared a room for you."**

**"Oh."**

**"Well... Thank you for saving Naiomi. Well.. Goodnight, I guess."**

**"Yeah," **Nicholas replied, waiting a minute before standing and dusting off his free hand while his other carried the plate. His brows furrowed upon seeing Keiichi there - why hadn't he left? Giving a growl that no normal human could muster, Nicholas pushed past the taller man, sliding through the small space he had managed to create. **"Here,"** he muttered, giving Kiseki the dish before turning. Keiichi was there again, brows furrowed in obvious confusion. _'Yeah, well that's what happens when you abandon the only family you had left...' _With that, he trudged off to bed.

* * *

The next morning, he was pulled out of his dreams of blue-haired Pokemorphs and ice caves by the smell of hot food. He sat up in the small bed in the guest room, glaring at a wall. Should he go join them with their merry little meal? A part of him laughed at the thought, but another part yearned for the company of another human - of a _family_ - that he had lacked for years. He frowned at this thought, one hand moving over his chest to where he imagined his head was - under his hand, he could feel a dull thudding, and he sighed, once again wondering if he was better of dead. _'No,' _he muttered to himself, despite the fact that a part of him truly believed that everyone he had ever known would have disagreed with this thought. _'Who cares about them, though? They don't care about you, why don't you feel the same way?' _Nicholas growled in frustration, standing and pulling on the shirt he had worn yesterday - it was gross, yes, but Nicholas refused to wear some of Keiichi's (it wasn't so much that the shirt would probably be huge on him, but that he just didn't want to wear something of his older brothers). So, he began to descend down the stairs to the kitchen, dark hair messy and lips curled down in a frown.

In the kitchen, he was greeted by: a) a broad smile and a polite "Good Morning" from Kiseki, b) a "HIIIII, UNCLE NICKIE!" from Naiomi, along with a hug, and c) a blank stare from Keiichi. Nicholas stared back, arms being squeezed to his sides by his niece, while Kiseki asked him if he was eating breakfast with them. For a minute, dark crimson met light aqua, each as cold as the other - before Nicholas' gaze shifted to Kiseki, giving a small nod. She sat him down, he noted with a slight smirk, right across from Keiichi. After he had received some orange juice from his hostess and began to drink some of it, he caught Kiseki move towards her husband from the corner of his eyes - and thanks to his keen Arcanine hearing, he heard the words, "Just try to get along with him, Keiichi..."

_Silence._

At this, Nicholas couldn't help but growl slightly, brows furrowing in a scowl. _'Bastard,' _he cursed mentally, his hands now clutching the edge of the table as he felt the too, too familiar need to rip out his brother's throat and then burn him to a crisp. Granted, this time, there was no Chaos to help this feeling along - only hate and the emptiness within him created the beast inside of Nicholas, fueling his hate for his brother and nearly everyone else in the world. However, just as his hair began to turn a vibrant shade of orange, he felt a small tug at his long black sleeve and exhaled. **"Yes, Naiomi?" **he muttered, regaining his composure slightly - his teeth were sharper now, hair orange, and his skin was nearly the same color, but no more changes were made.

**"I was just wonderin'... Why did you never come see us?" **she inquired innocently, looking up at him with wide, hopeful eyes. The boy tensed, silent - Keiichi, he knew, had most definitely done the same. _'We're so alike... Why does he hate me?' _Nicholas almost snarled at his helplessness, his need to be loved by his brother. Funny thought, though - to Nicholas, it seemed evident that their old bond could never be revived.

**"Oh, no reason - I wouldn't want to ruin your happy little family," **he mused after a minute of thought with a sly smirk, a mischievous sparkle in his light eyes. He had thought this over, and what he hoped Nai would say she did.

**"Oh! I bet you wanna spend time with your own family, right, Uncle Nickyyy?"**

**"No, not that," **he replied, pausing to glance at Keiichi. _'Let the bastard know how he affected me...' _**"See, people like _me_ don't get married - well, not after their world comes crumbling down. You see, years ago, your daddy created something that made Pokemon evil-" **he paused to snort, **"-and left me to die. I wasn't that old then... Too bad my father and mother _coincidentally_ died. A shame..." **Another pause - Nicholas couldn't help but glance down, paying his respects to them before looking back at his brother. _'I'm avenging you two - let's see how he likes it when his life is a living hell and all he knows is misery.' _**"Then it was all over. I was dead when it was, of course... Luckily, I was revived by some priest - I think his name was Tyreal or something. Oh, Shizun led him to me - led him to the ice caves where Articuno froze me." **His expression suddenly turned sour, malicious glee gone. **"And when I awoke, there was no one there. Not Shinyuu, Alexis, Tyreal... Rose, Marie, Myuutsu... Nami..."** He fell silent then, glaring at his feet - he had remembered them. He had not mentioned all of his old friends, but he had mentioned the ones he knew the names of - and the few (or many, in some people's eyes) he had mentioned struck a chord in his numb heart, making his dull eyes spark to life.


End file.
